Elias Duran, construction trainer for Juneau's Vocational Training and Resource Center has completed the Instructor Certification Training Program and received a Master Trainer certification through the National Center for Construction Education and Research.

NCCER is a not-for-profit education foundation founded in 1995 by 11 of the world's largest and most progressive construction companies and several national construction associations.

NCCER was created to address the severe workforce shortage facing our industry and to develop standardized construction, maintenance and pipeline curricula.

Students successfully trained under certified Craft Instructors will have the opportunity to be entered into a National Registry maintained by the NCCER. This registry will contain the training records of VTRC's construction training program students and provide a portable, uniform record of their accomplishments, regardless of where the training may have geographically occurred.

The national registry gives students more flexibility in their career path planning and ensures that their training accomplishments will be recognized wherever they go.

The Vocational Training and Resource Center has also been approved to become Southeast Alaska's only NCCER Accredited Assessment Center.

This will provide the opportunity for experienced journey-level workers to receive nationally recognized credentials for their respective crafts and inclusion into NCCER's online national registry.